What's a Cornell badge?
Badges are visible marks of your support for the LII. You can buy
badges at three levels: bronze, silver, and gold. Each identifies you
as a supporter of the Legal Information Institute -- and rewards you
with greater visibility and higher rankings within the lawyer directory.
All monies collected for the LII badge will go directly to Cornell's Legal Information Institute.
Why do I need one?
- You support and promote free access to legal information -- a future that works
- You let potential clients know that you're public-spirited
- You rise above the crowd
Almost every dollar goes directly to support Legal Information Institute projects and programs (we say "almost" because our payment processor takes a very small cut). Some LII projects you may have heard of -- and use every day -- are the LII's edition of the United States Code , our LII BULLETIN Supreme Court analysis and current-awareness service, and WEX -- our wikified legal encyclopedia. There are many others.
The LII does more than put free stuff on the Web -- it works on creating standards and software that make other peoples' free stuff easier to find and use. We call it "applied research". A corporation would call it "R&D". We hope that someday you'll call it "fast, well-designed, and useful". Your badge dollars are an investment in the future of legal information -- a future we've helped to shape since 1992, when we put the first legal information on the Web.
The 2.5 million people who visit the LII this month are looking for answers and help. They find public-spirited, helpful lawyers attractive.
We feature our supporters by making them more prominent in searches of the lawyer directory. Higher-level badges rise higher in the rankings.
Do I have to buy one?
Nope. The LII lawyers directory is free to all comers, whether they support us or not. And it always will be.
How much does it cost?
There are three levels of support and badges, Gold, Silver, Bronze for monthly or yearly subscription fees. All monies collected for the LII badge and ranking will go directly to Cornell's Legal Information Institute. Your badge will also show up on the Justia.com site. So be like the lawyers at Justia, and support the Legal Information Institute and get your LII badge!
What happens to the money?
Very nearly all of it goes directly to support LII projects and programs. Our payment processor takes a very small cut. The rest directly supports LII projects and programs (and in some cases supports law students, too, since we employ a bunch of them).